Colonization IV
(This needed its own page largely because I had so many images from Fictionalization IV I just wanted to use somewhere). In progress. Colonies AMERICA Leaders: Jed Bartlet, James Marshall He is a popular United States president who wouldn't negotiate with terrorists but later, he was forced to negotiate with Ivan Korshunov to release General Radek after Korshunov took over the president's plane, Air Force One. But when he killed Ivan Korshunov, he announced his freedom and the Russians had General Radek shot. His Vice President is Kathryn Bennett and his family is Grace Marshall and Alice Marshall. Jack Ryan Born in 1950, Ryan is a native of Maryland and began his career in the Marines before a training accident cut his military life short. He first distinguished himself in his work with the CIA, rising through the ranks before returning to government work, accepting the position of Vice President to Roger Durling. Shortly after his appointment, a Japanese terrorist flew a plane into the dome of the Capitol Building, killing the President and most of Congress. So, Ryan became President of the United States. His administration was mostly carried out through Executive Orders now the the legislative body was destroyed. He manages to take out a mad Iranian Ayatollah bent on domination of the Middle East and in the tradition of Martin, Hockstader, and Johnny Cyclops, issues the Ryan Doctrine, stating that the United States will no longer tolerate any attacks against American people or property. Nehemiah Scudder '''LU: Gunslinger* Superhero: Superman* '''ARABIA Leaders: ''' '''Haroun Al-Raschid Vathek Vathek is the eponymous protagonist of William Thomas Beckford's 1786 novel Vathek, an Arabian Tale, a formative work in the genre of Gothic fiction. Vathek is a heavily, heavily fictionalized version of the real 9th century Abbasid caliph Al-Wathiq ibn Mutasim. The real Al-Wathiq was known as a great patron of scholars and artists who had a thirst for knowledge. The Vathek of the novel has a similar desire for knowledge, building his palace of Alkoremi to be a haven for all branches of learning, with a tower that reached to the heavens. This thirst for knowledge proved his downfall. After a mysterious merchant named Giaour persuades him to renounce the teachings of Allah, Vathek begins a moral downward spiral that eventually leads to his damnation. Some notes on the LH's appearance: In the novel Vathek is said to have the "evil eye" to break people to his will. In real life, Al-Wathiq's left eye was paralyzed. The idea for the peacock pattern on Vathek's clothes is taken from Yazidi, a religion considered by mainstream Islam to be a form of Satanism. Yazidis revere Melek Taus, "the peacock angel", who stood up to God's will and serves as leader of the archangels. LU: Carpet Rider* Superhero: Jabbar* ATLANTIS Leaders: Atlas, Arthur Curry UU: Polyreme UB: Orichalcum Treasury LU: Mersoldier* Superhero: Namor* AZTEC Leaders: Huitzilopochtli LU: Ahuizotl* Superhero: Quetzalcoatl* CELTIA Leaders: Macbeth, Lear LU: Fianna* Superhero: X-O Manowar* CHINA Leaders: Liu Bei Liu Bei (161 - 223) was a general, warlord, and later the founding emperor of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of China. Although having a later start than his rivals, also lacking both the material resources and social status they commanded, Liu Bei overcame his many defeats to carve out his own realm, that at its peak spanned modern day Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, part of Hubei, and part of Gansu. Culturally, due to the tremendously popular novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Liu Bei is widely known as the ideal benevolent, humane ruler who cared for his people and picked good advisors. His character was to advocate the Confucian set of moral values, such as loyalty and compassion. Huangdi, Wu Qinghua LU: Loong Dragon* Superhero: Li Xiaolong* DENMARK Leaders: The Snow Queen Meta Notes:The Snow Queen (Sneedronningen in Danish) is the eponymous antagonist of Hans Christian Andersen's 1845 fairy tale, which inspired the film Frozen. The story focuses on two children, Kai and Gerda, who are the deepest of friends. All this changes when Kai's eyes are hit with tiny splinters of a magical broken mirror. A mirror, forged by a demonic troll, that made even the loveliest thing look hideous beyond compare. Kai could only see the bad in things, and so he shunned Gerda's love. He could only find beauty in snowflakes. Unable to find love elsewhere, he was taken by the Snow Queen and whisked away to her palace in Lapland. There she keeps him captive and tells him that he can only escape when he can spell "eternity" with shards of ice. Gerda then starts a quest to find him, going through Finland and Lapland to find him. She finds the Queen's palace, guarded by snowflakes under her control. Gerda dispels the snow by reciting the Lord's Prayer, enters the palace and finds Kai standing on a frozen lake called the Mirror of Reason. She embraces him and cries hot tears onto him, melting his heart and dislodging the splinter from his eye. They dance in celebration. And as they dance icicles crash around them, spelling "eternity" as they fall. Free of the spell, they return home and find themselves grown. EGYPT Leaders: Ozymandias, Ra LU: Anubite* Superhero: Teth Adam* ENGLAND Leaders: Arthur, Gloriana Meta Notes: Published in two parts, the first in 1590 and the second in 1596, the poem is an allegorical tale of English knights who are the personifications of Christian virtues. The knight Artegal personifies Justice, Britomart Chastity, Guyon Temperance, and so on. Six books of the poem were written, though Spenser had plans for 24 books consisting of 12 private virtues and 12 public ones. The Faerie Queene herself represents Glory, hence the name. Spenser presents the faerie as a thinly veiled allegory of Queen Elizabeth I, using the character to show her virtuous nature and right to the throne - in the story the House of Tudor is connected with the line of King Arthur. Naturally, the work won Spenser a great deal of favor with Elizabeth's court. The name Gloriana supposedly became closely associated with Elizabeth during her lifetime and afterward. It is also the title of a 1953 opera by Benjamin Britten about Elizabeth, an opera written for the coronation of Elizabeth II. Big Brother LU: Knight of the Round Table* Superhero: Marvelman* FREEDO-MORONIKA Leaders: Rufus T. Firefly, Moe Hailstone, Victor von Doom UU: Marxist UB: Opera House LU: Doombot* Superhero: Doomsman II* FRANCE Leaders: Prince Charming, Meta: Louis XVI ' This heavily inaccurate version of Louis XVI of France was played by Mel Brooks in the 1981 film ''History of the World, Part 1. In the film, Brooks gathered some of his cast regulars (Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, etc.) and spoofed several subgenres of period movies covering several points in history. Brooks himself played five roles: Moses ("I bring you 15 *crunch* oy... 10! 10 Commandments!"), Comicus the stand-up philosopher ("You heard of the Christians? They're so poor they only have one god!"), a singing and dancing Tomas de Torquemada ("I asked 'em nicely! I said pretty please! They wouldn't convert, so I'll bang on their knees!"), a "Garcon du Pisse" during the French segment, and of course Louis "It's Good to Be the King" XVI. The Louis in the movie is a far cry from the historical Louis. While Louis was merely incompetent, Brook's Louis is openly hostile to the peasantry, using live peasants for skeet shooting. Also, Brook's Louis is highly lascivious. The real Louis was quite the opposite, taking years to consummate his marriage to Marie Antoinette. The portrayal in the movie spawned the line "It's good to be the king", which became a running joke in several other Brooks productions. LU: Conquérant des Nuages* Superhero: ? GERMANY Leaders: Froschkonig, Adenoid Hynkel LU: ? Superhero: Heinrich I GREECE Leaders: Agamemnon, Oedipus LU: Centaur* Superhero: Wonder Woman* HYBOREA Leaders: Conan UU: Cimmerian Warrior UB: Mitraic Temple LU: Black Guard Superhero: ? INCA Leaders: Manco Capac LU: ? Superhero: Ajak* INDIA Leaders: Raghava Rama, Khan Noonien Singh LU: Pandava* Superhero: Shaktiman* '''JAPAN Leaders: Yamato Takeru Yamato Takeru is a legendary prince and Japanese folk hero, noted for his courage and ingenuity. The legendary son of the legendary 12th emperor Keikō, Yamato Takeru was supposedly responsible for expanding the territory of the Yamato court. Born Prince Ousu, he slew his elder brother Ōusu and his father, the emperor Keikō, feared his brutal temperament. The father plotted to have his son die in battle and sent him to Izumo Province then the land of Kumaso. He survived the Kumaso by cleverly disguising himself as a woman and, at a banquet in his honour, killing Kumaso warriors while they were drunk. The blue clothes he wears here are taken from prints of him in disguise taking down the Kumaso. He cut away the burning grass of a fire set by the Ainu tribesmen with the miraculous sword Kusanagi and escaped. His adventures ended on the plains of Tagi, where he was stricken with illness and, according to legend, changed into a white plover and disappeared from the world. His tomb at Ise is known as the Mausoleum of the White Plover. LU: Gundam* Superhero: Goku* MALI Leaders: Chibinda Ilunga Chibinda Ilunga is a semi-legendary figure from the Luba and Lunda mythologies. He is known as a great hunter and one of their people's civilizing heroes. He's a well known figure throughout Central Africa, and the Chokwe people have made a name for themselves with their distinctive wooden sculptures of the king. He is always depicted with a distinctive headdress, a horn to symbolize his mystical knowledge, and a staff representing leadership. Shango LU: Loa* Superhero: Tarzan NATIVE AMERICA Leaders: Hiawatha LU: Thunderbird* Superhero: Apache Chief* PERSIA Leaders: Meta: Xerxes 'as portrayed here is the antagonist of Frank Miller's 1998 graphic novel and its popular 2007 film adaptation ''300, a fantastical retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The novel which inspired the film was itself inspired by the 1962 Hollywood film The 300 Spartans, which was itself inspired by Herodotus' Histories, which have something of a reputation for being Greek propaganda. Thus, this Xerxes has little to do with the historical Xerxes. He dresses more like an Indian belly dancer than a Persian king. The film was a huge international hit, though it had a great deal of criticism. Several American critics took offense to its overt masculinity and praise of war, which some interpreted as a neocon fantasy. Other critics acknowledged such overtones, but thought the movie was far too over-the-top to interpret it as a legitimate political statement. But most telling was the reaction from Iran. Several state officials in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet denounced the film as cultural warfare, perverting the ideals of a very proud chapter in Persian history. But damn did it look cool. Sheherezade, Ayatollah Daraei LU: Simurgh* Superhero: ? ROME Leaders: Romulus and Remus, Lucius Tiberius LU: Gladiator* Superhero: Ultima* '''RUSSIA Leaders: Ivan the Fool (Ivan Durak in Russian), As his name suggests, was a foolish young man who despite his simple mind has a good heart. He was born into peasantry and through a series of good fortunes, married a princess and becames Tsar of Russia. The fortunes that come his way vary from story to story, from old wizards who reward him for his kindness, to magical fish he catches and then spares. He later became known as Ivan the Terrible during his rule. Fearless Leader LU: SMERSH Agent* Superhero: Omega Red* SHAMBHALA Leaders: Suchandra UU: Dob Dob UB: Gompa LU: Bodhisatva* Superhero: ? SPAIN Leaders: El Cid LU: Campeador* Superhero: SUMERIA Leaders: Gilgamesh LU: Harimtu* Superhero: Gozer* TRANSYLVANIA Leaders: Dracula UU: Nosferatu UB: Sanctuary LU: ? Superhero: The Master* UTOPIA Leaders: Utopos UU: Politis UB: Garden LU: Syphograntus* Superhero: The Samaritan* VIKINGS Leaders: Beowulf LU: Valkyrie* Superhero: Thor* ZAMUNDA Jaffe Joffer 'is a character from the 1988 John Landis-directed Eddie Murphy-starring movie ''Coming to America. In the film, Joffer is the king of the fictional African nation of Zamunda (a reference to a Richard Pryor routine). An obscenely wealthy man, he arranges a marriage for his son Akeem (Murphy). Akeem rejects the bride and decides to find a bride whom he can respect for her intelligence, running away to America to find a queen in, where else, Queens, New York. The film was a moderate box office success, and started a notable trend in Eddie Murphy's career: Murphy playing multiple roles. Here's a fun bit of trivia. Madge Sinclair played Joffer's wife, Queen Aoeleon. Six years later Jones and Sinclair would again play the king and queen of an African kingdom: Mufasa and Sarabi in The Lion King. ZULU Leaders: Jaffe Joffer, T'Challa LU: Impundulu* Superhero: Storm* '''Non Playable Colonies Christopher Johnson (which we can assume is an assigned name) is an alien whose ship has come to a halt over Draka where, for the past 20 years, his people have been rounded up to live on the land in the ghetto of District 9. Unlike the other aliens, "prawns" as they are pejoratively called, Johnson is intelligent and resourceful. It is implied that the prawns function much like insect societies - most of the population are mindless drones, with a few bred to be functional lieutenants, as Johnson is here. Johnson in Colonization IV is the representative of his people, refugees who an event will trigger that causes their ship to appear. "Prawns"are believed to be the same as the wingless Gromflomites and they were fleeing the newly formed and tyannical Federation when they arrived on Earth. Meta Notes: Interestingly enough, District 9 was originally going to be an adaptation of the Halo video games, produced by Lord of the Rings auteur Peter Jackson. When funding fell through for that, Jackson took a chance with Blomkamp, a first-time feature film director, to take the resources for Halo and adapt Alive in Joburg, a short film that established the main themes of District. You can see Halo's influence in some of the alien weaponry used. Babar is an elephant, orphaned at a young age, who found his way to Paris as a boy. There he was educated in French culture and language. When the King of the Elephants died, his cousins Celeste and Arthur found him in Paris and brought him back. The elders thought that Babar's education made him a suitable leader, and so was crowned king. As the total ruler of the elephants, he decreed that all elephants wear clothes, speak French, and act in a newly civilized manner. Most of his adventures involve him and his family either visiting other places or waging war against the kingdom of the rhinoceroses led by Lord Rataxes. In Colonization IV he is a City State meant to test the player as to what would happen if they encountered a Moreau Sapien society. You can declare war on them for their Ivory tusks. Stephen Colbert is an American comedian (b.1964) who has become famous as a fake news pundit. He attended Northwestern University with the intent to become an actor, but instead fell into improvisational theatre. After a stay with the famous Second City improv troupe, he went on to perform and write the cult TV show Strangers With Candy before getting a wide audience with his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Running with the "fake news" theme of TDS, he was given his own spin-off series: The Colbert Report, a sharp satire of conservative personality-driven shows like The O'Reilly Factor, Scarborough Country, and more recently taking cues from Glenn Beck. Through his onscreen character - described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned idiot" - right-wing talking points are regularly reduced to the absurd and exposed for their inherent "truthiness". The show has won an Emmy and a Peabody, and Colbert was named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in 2006